The ever increasing use of fossil fuels has led to the development of drilling technologies that were unimaginable in the recent past. For instance, the ability to drill a well to a desired depth and then steer the well, with respect to the drilling platform, from a vertical direction to a horizontal direction is now a common practice. The direction of a well can be changed based on factors such as the geological strata or a recovery design plan for optimizing the output from the well.
The multidirectional drilling capabilities described above have introduced a new series of problems related to determining the operational parameters of the well. For example, a common task in the startup and operation of a well is to deploy one or more wireline tools down a well to collect data. The wireline tools can measure well parameters, employ cameras for optical observation or even perform radioactive irradiations to evaluate the localized geological strata. The key difference is in a well with a straight vertical direction and a well with an orientation that shifts from a vertical direction to a horizontal direction and possibly upwards towards the surface.
As is easily imagined, retrieving a series of wireline tools from a well with changing direction of bore is more difficult than retrieving the same series of wireline tools from a straight vertical well. For example, the force of gravity combined with the bend of a turn in the well can cause a string of wireline tools to become stuck. This problem can occur either because one of the tools is physically stuck in a bend in the well or the force required to pull the series of wireline tools through the bend is greater than the tensile strength of the wire attached to the wireline tools.
In another example, when perforating charges are detonated the perforation canister can deform during the explosion and become lodged in the well bore. As described above, the force required to retrieve the deformed perforation canister can exceed the tensile strength of the wire attached to the wireline tools.
Under the above described circumstances, a system and associated methods are desired allowing the release of the wireline tools above the obstruction without disrupting the ability of the remaining wireline tools to continue performing their intended tasks as the tool string is removed from the well. Additionally, the ability to reconnect wireline tools without requiring replacement of all components retrieved from the well is desirable because the additional benefit of the ability to test a string of wireline tools before insertion into the well becomes possible.